Primani (Book One) by Laurie Olerich
Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 978-1492124849
Number
of pages: 432
Cover
Artist: Angela Bauer
Mica Thomas is Sean O'Cahan's worst nightmare.
Part angel, all Primani, he's a ruthless protector with unusual talents. Jaded
by the weakness of humans, he takes a hands-off approach to his charges. His
job's to protect her. That's all. But Mica's got other ideas. He's strong, but
she's stronger. Will his one moment of weakness destroy them both?
Mica doesn’t believe in quaint notions of fate
and destiny. She’s a live-in-the-moment kind of girl until she’s attacked and
left for dead. When Sean and his friends appear out of thin air to rescue her,
Mica knows there’s more to them than they’re saying. Secrets and lies pile up
but she can’t walk away from him.
As the clock ticks, Mica is drawn deeper into
the Primani world until there’s no way out.
Tick-tock. Time is running out. What happens
when it does?
It was about time to go out.
Ricki and Dani were coming over to get me in a little while. I was finishing my
hair and looking at my face critically. Was my nose crooked? I peered closer at my reflection. Mm, maybe it was
okay. All traces of bruises were gone. The heart shape of my face was back and
my lips were full from good genes instead of blood clots. I looked at my eyes
for changes. Wide and tilted up at the outside, they shone dark blue in the
mirror. They still had a shuttered look to them. I wasn’t quite healed. I
forced a happy smile that would reach my eyes. Ugh! That’s worse. I look like a
crazy person. Better to keep the smile small. I would just hope no one paid
much attention to my eyes.
A movement caught my eye in the
mirror. I spun around but the room was empty. Carefully, I snatched up my
hairspray and crept around the corner. If someone was in here, they would get a
rude surprise. I was armed this time! But I didn’t hear anything and I didn’t
really sense anyone else. I must have imagined the dark-haired boy in the hall.
At least it didn’t look like Scott Flynn. Maybe I needed a dog.
The party was huge. We were out
in the country at Dani’s friend Angel’s house. Her parents had gone skiing and
left the house to her. We were glad to keep her company…all 100 of her best
friends. I hadn’t been to a party since my going away party last summer. After
my mom’s funeral, I stayed with my sister until I finished school. It was
horrible but my friends helped a lot. They kept me busy on the weekends and
then threw a huge drunken bash for me before I left in June. It was the party
to end all parties. I came very close to losing my virginity that night but was
saved the trouble by the police after the neighbors complained. Marc was
devastated.
Poor baby!
It had been a long time since I
had been to a party. I was ready to have some fun tonight. I kept trying to
push that half-seen face from my hallway out of my head, but he kept intruding
anyway. I was making my way from the pool house back inside when I saw him again.
I stopped in my tracks and
stared. Whoa!
Who are these guys?
I’ve never seen them before.
There were two ridiculously gorgeous guys standing in the shadows near a
covered walkway. They were talking intently to each other and seemed to be
scanning the crowd for someone. There’s no way they were partying. No possible
way--they were way too intense. They reminded me of Secret Service agents, but
without the suits. Instinctively, I crouched behind a snow-covered shrub and
watched them. The taller one seemed to be chewing out the shorter one. The
shorter one was listening and nodding his head. He looked unhappy. I couldn’t
help but stare. It was him!
He had short hair and a hard
face. It was too strong…too mature for a teenager. I could see his cheekbones
from here. I couldn’t make out his eyes though. He looked as if he was about to
kick someone’s ass or take over a small country. He stood tensely, listening to
the other one. His shoulders were squared back and tugged against the t-shirt
he was wearing. Taking advantage of my invisibility, I let my eyes wander over
the rest of his body. Glancing down at his arms, I did a little swoon and kept
going. Sadly, his good parts were hidden in the shadows. Oh, yum!
He was hot. But what was he
doing here? Was he really in my house earlier? That’s impossible.
“Find her!” The wind shifted and
the harsh words drifted clearly. The taller one gestured towards the house. He
had the same military look to him, but he was bigger and much more
intimidating. He was more bulky in the shoulders but had a lean torso and a
nice butt. I imagined he had amazing abs. Yes, he was gorgeous but looked mean.
There was something about the set of his jaw that said he’d take no crap from
anyone. What were they doing here? A small shiver went down my back and I
started to look for an exit.
“Mica! There you are! We’ve been
looking for you. Come back inside. Someone found a karaoke machine.” Tyler’s
voice interrupted my spying. Smiling impatiently, he reached out to grab my arm
and I flinched. He held out a hand and said, “Hey, my bad. I’m sorry, dude!”
The strangers zeroed in on me
like I was standing in a spotlight. Both sets of eyes pinned me to the ground
and I froze like a baby deer. While Tyler babbled about karaoke, I watched them
watch me. Both stared so intently that I was afraid I would burst into flames.
They seemed to know me. How was that possible? Who were these guys? The big one
said something to the shorter one and they started moving my direction. The big
one moved like he was stalking prey. I yelped and bolted back to the house. I
was striving for a dignified retreat but knocking people out of the way kind of
ruined it.
“What’s with you? You look like
you’ve seen a ghost.” Tyler skidded to a halt beside me.
I laughed shakily. “Did you see those guys?”
“What guys?”
“The two guys who were standing
across from us outside! You didn’t see them? They were coming over to us.”
Tyler looked down his long nose
and said, “Dude, I didn’t see anyone but you standing behind a bush. I think
you need another beer.” He put a new beer in my hand and clinked his bottle
against mine in a toast.
I stayed inside the rest of the
night and kept close to my friends. I kept a lookout for the ‘secret agents’ as
I nicknamed them. I didn’t see them again. Maybe I had imagined the whole
thing? It seemed so real though. It was really late when it was time to go
home. Ricki was pretty wasted so I was driving. I wasn’t exactly sober and my
dad would kill me if he knew I was driving. But hey, I had a new philosophy: I
would die when it was my turn. In the meantime, I would live life how I wanted
and we’d just see how things turned out. Aric and Dani walked us to the car and
helped Ricki into the backseat. Aric made sure she had a seatbelt on and asked
me how I was doing.
“Oh, I’m fine. I don’t feel
buzzed at all. Don’t worry about us.”
He looked dubious and told me to
drive slowly because the roads were slippery. I only had to drive about 30
miles to get us home. Ricki fell asleep before we turned onto the main highway
and it was unnaturally quiet. I turned on the stereo and sung disjointedly to a
Lady GaGa song that I barely knew. Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, I
yawned. The miles mocked me as we crept along in the snow. I wasn’t even sure we
were really moving…My feet were freezing so I turned the heater on. Before
long, the car was toasty warm and so were my eyes. Blinking to stay awake, I
shifted forward to lean on the steering wheel and focus better on the road. Not
one of my better ideas. The woods were dark around us and the falling snow
obscured everything. It was like driving in a black and white tunnel. My eyes
closed and I blinked hard again. The snow was so pretty bouncing off my window.
It was mesmerizing…I was drifting off to sleep when the car started to slide
and abruptly stopped. The bump jolted me awake and I looked around in
astonishment. I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t even driving. I was in the passenger
seat.
“What the hell? How did you get
here?”
The Secret Agent Man from the
party looked at me with snapping eyes. “Are you crazy? You almost died back
there! Do you know how close you came to wrapping this car around a tree?” His
hands flew as he yelled and I cringed away from him. Taking a deep breath, he
held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “Calm down; I’m not going to hurt
you,” he hissed impatiently and wrapped his big hand around mine before I could
protest.
Laurie Olerich is the author of the new Primani
series. Part urban fantasy, part romance, part paranormal...Three things she
can’t live without! Laurie spent most of her life in the Northeastern United
States and in Western Europe. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her son
and Dalmatian duo, Domino and Rambo.
Desperate to escape the heat, she lives vicariously through Mica and her
Primani by setting their adventures in the mountain coolness of New England and
the rainy days of London. Before throwing caution to the wind and diving into a
writing career, Laurie dedicated 20 years to her country by serving in the
United States Air Force. Much of her time was spent around men with guns and
cool toys...this explains her obsession with both.
To Be added...
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